
x..^. 




Author 



Imprint 


S<h*-47;i72~2 OPO ' 


I 































































































































































































































































[In the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representa^^ives. ] 


INAUGUEATION DAY. 


January 12, 1903. 


Mr. Parker, of the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted to them 
the following report on and statement of facts, which was ordered 
by the Committee to be printed. 


[To accompany S. R. 2 and H. J. Res. 233.] 


^ Washington, 190S. 

The Judiciary Committee, 

Home of Representatives: 

At your request I have put in more careful form the considerations 
heretofore submitted on the subject of the day of inauguration. 

The committee have before them several suggested plans. 

Senate Joint Resolution 2, passed by the Senate and referred to the 
committee February 12, 1902, proposes a constitutional amendment 
whereby the terms of the President, the Vice-President, and of Con¬ 
gress shall begin on the last Thursday of April instead of March 1; and 
whereby in case of failure to elect, either by the electors or in the 
House of Representatives, the Vice-President as chosen by the Senate 
shall become President. 

The words of the amendment are as follows: 

That the Fifty-eighth Congress and the term of office of the President and Vice- 
President shall continue until the last Thursday of April, in the year nineteen hun¬ 
dred and five, at noon; and the last Thursday of April, at noon, shall thereafter be 
substituted for the fourth day of March as the commencement and termination of 
Congress and of the terms of the President, Vice-President, Senators, Representa¬ 
tives, and Delegates in Congress. And if the House of Representatives shall not 
choose a President, whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before 
the last Thursday in April next following, then the Vice-President shall act as 
President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the 
President. 

If this amendment be adopted it would lengthen the present short 
session of the old Congress after election of a new Congress, unless 
by law the election should be changed to the spring. 

A second proposition is that of Air. De Armond, embodied in House 
Joint Resolution 233, that the Presidential term should begin April 30, 
that of Congress on January 8, and that no sej^^jon.of .CoRgres>'S^hquld 
beheld between election and that date excejit iiii hjnergenpj’ayj t’Q’- 








INAUGURATION DAY. 


64v , 

consider emergenc}^ measures. Under this amendment, if adopted, 
the old President would sit with the new Congress from January to 
April. Mr. De Armond indorses the provision as to the election of 
President by the Senate, and proposes to add to his resolution the last 
sentence of Senate Joint Resolution 2. His own proposed amendment 
is as follows: 


The term of office of the President shall continue until tlie thirtieth day of April, 
in the year nineteen hundred and five, at noon, and the thirtieth day of April, at 
noon, shall thereafter be substituted for the fourth day of March as the beginning 
and the ending of the terms of the President and Vice-President; and the Fifty-nintli 
Congress shall end and the Sixtieth Congress shall begin the eighth day of January, 
nineteen hundred and seven, at noon, and thereafter each Congress shall begin and 
end on the eighth day of January, at noon; and no Congress after the Fifty-eightii 
shall meet or sit later than the day for the election of a new Congress, except when 
convened by the President in extraordinary session, in a great emergency, which 
shall be stated in his proclamation; and in such extraordinary session none but 
emergency measures shall be passed or considered. 


Some of us regard it as the most important consideration that tin" 
newly elected President and Congress should get to work shortl 
after election, and, believing that such elections can not well be moved 
to the spring, we suggest that Congress shotdd meet in a month after 
the November election, and the President be inaugurated a month 
later—that is, in January. A proper form of such amendment might 
be as follows: 


The terms of office of Senators and Representatives that shall be elected or chosen 
next after the ratification of this amendment shall end on the first day of December 
preceding the day when such terms would otherwise end, and the terms of the Pres¬ 
ident and Vice-President that shall be elected next after such ratification shall end 
on the second day of January preceding the day when such term would otherwise end. 

The subject has naturally brought up the historv of how March 4 
came to be adopted, what difficulties have been ascertained by experi¬ 
ence, and what various remedies might be recommended, with their 
advantages and disadvantages. 

The discussion as to the day on which the inauguration of the Pres- . 
ident should be celebrated has excited public interest and involve 
questions of graver importance than the comfort of the crowdfrAvlH' 
gather upon that day, or than the risk to the President himself by 
exposure to cold and stormy weather. The date of that inauguration 
has made a short session almost a necessity", and that session is held by" 
the old President and Congress after the election of a new President 
and the new Congress, so that active legislation is sometimes carried 
on by men, many of whom know that after a few months they" will 
have no further share in the Government. Such a condition is a!i 
anomaly" in administration and can not serve the welfare of the country". 
The original resolution, proposing to postpone the inauguration t 
April 30, would only lengthen the time between the November ele(‘- 
tions and the term of the new Congress, and thus extend the months 
of this short session, unless the election itself were postponed to th= 
spring. 

It has been often suggested as a remedy- that Congress should me< r 
in March following the election. The farmer’s love for his crops mac e 
this impossible in the beginning of our nation, when Congress was mac * 
up of farmers. More recently", and since the Capitol was establishe(‘ 
at Washington, Congress has also had to consider the great heat of the 
hi that phita during the late spring and the summer, and for 
I •; r*! i 


APR 30 1903 

D.ofli. 





INAUGURATION DAY. 


3 


these reasons there has been an unconquerable repugnance to beginning 
the sessions of Congress in March. 

Thus it happens that the new Congress is not sworn in until Decem¬ 
ber, and nevertheless its inembers-elect are paid from March. In case 
of contest, where another person is admitted, there is double pay for 
<dl this time. All sorts of evil consequences flow from the postpone¬ 
ment of the meeting of the new Congress for over a year and one 
juonth after its election and for nine months after the beginning of 
the Congressional term, and still greater evils come to pass from hold¬ 
ing a short session after the election of the new Congress. There is, 
however, a diflerent view held by others, namely, that it is advisable 
to let partisan feeling cool after election, and for that purpose delay 
the institution of the new administration. It is fair to state this view, 
though 1 do not share it. 

It is of historical interest to see how the present state of affairs came 
about. We get little information from the Constitution itself. That 
instrument is strangely silent on the great question of how it was to 
be put into operation. It tells us that it shall go into effect when it 
'-hall have been ratified by the conventions of nine States (Article VII): 

The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be sufficient for the estab¬ 
lishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same. 

It declares also, hi Article I, section 4, that— 

The times, places, and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives 
.-hall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof— 

subject to change by Congress; that the Congress shall assemble at 
least once in every year, and that ‘‘such meeting shall he on the first 
Monday in December, unless the}^ shall b}^ law appoint a different 
day.’' So far it seems plain that after 9 States shall have ratified the 
Constitution by their conventions, each State might hold an election 
for members of Congress, the legislators would choose Senators, and, 
unless otherwise provided by law. Congress would meet on the first 
Monday in December thereafter. It would seem as if the Govern¬ 
ment of the United States under the new Constitution was expected to 
begin on that da}^, so far as that Constitution speaks. 

But the place of meeting is left absolutel}" undefined by the 
Constitution. 

There is still more uncertainty and difficulty under the terms of the 
instrument about the election of a President. By Article II, section 1, 
each State was to appoint the electors in such manner as the legislature 
might direct, and the Congress might determine “the time of choosing 
the electors and the day on which they shall give their votes, which 
day shall be the same throughout the United States.” Until Congress 
should exist and should fix the time for choosing electors, the States 
could probably proceed to make that choice without limitation. But 
the day on which the electors so chosen should meet and vote was to 
be the same within the United States and could not be determined 
except by Congress. 

How this was to be done when there was as 3 "et no Congress, and 
how then the first election of the President was to be held, are not 
gathered from the Constitution. And whether this time could be 
fixed for choosing a President bv concurrent resolution of the two 
Houses, or whether the States should take the responsibilitv of pro¬ 
ceeding with the meeting of the electors, each for themselves, would 


4 


INAUGURATION DAY. 


likewise seem to be a question of doubt. However, with the Consti¬ 
tution alone to guide us, it would be supposed that the electors would 
proceed to hold their meeting in the several States at such time as the 
States should think proper, and that the clause of the Constitution 
just recited that Congress should fix the day of election would be left 
in abe 3 "ance until there should be a Congress, including a President, to 
make this regulation. 

It is in this manner that one would suppose that the new Government 
would have been formed under the Constitution. It was not thus 
formed. It did not go into effect upon the first Monday in December, 
but upon the first Wednesday in March. The da}^ for the choosing of 
electors—that is, the election day—as well as the day for the meeting of 
the electors, and the day and place for the first meeting of Congress 
and for the establishment of the new Government were not fixed by 
the Constitution itself, nor by the several States, nor b}" the new Con¬ 
gress, but b}^ an outside authority—the Congress of the old Confed¬ 
eration. 

By the articles of that Confederation it had been provided that those 
articles should be perpetual, and that no alteration thereof should be 
made unless it should be agreed to in a Congress of the United States 
and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of all the several States. 
The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was, therefore, called under a 
resolution of the old Congress recommending a convention of dele¬ 
gates, which should consider and report to that Congress a proposed 
revision of the Articles of Confederation, so that the alterations and 
new provisions so reported should be agreed to in a Congress and 
confirmed b}^ the States. 

Thus the resolution pursued carefully the inode of amendment and alteration pro¬ 
vided by the Articles of Confederation, except that it interposed a convention for the 
purpose of originating the changes to be proposed in the existing form of government, 
adding, however, the great general purpose of rendering the Federal Constitution 
adequate to the exigencies of government and the preservation of the Union. (Con¬ 
stitutional History of the United States, George Ticknor Curtis, vol. 1, p. 245.) 

The convention, as is well known, went much fuither than was pro¬ 
posed by this resolution of the Congress of the Confederation. It 
reported a constitution which was a revolution, and was to take the place 
of the Articles of Confederation, and was to be adopted bv conventions 
of the people. It was also recognized that so radical a change might 
not obtain the assent of all the States, and it was therefore provided 
that this new constitution should go into effect upon the ratification b^" 
nine States. 

‘‘Article VII. The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall 
be sufficient for the establishment of this constitution between the States 
so ratifying the same.” At the same time the conservative men who 
drew the new constitution desired that this great change should be insti¬ 
tuted with the assent of the old government rather than b}" way of 
revolution. It was well pointed out bv Curtis (vol. 1, p. 246): 

For the wise precedent, thus established, of placing the formation of a new gov¬ 
ernment under the direct sanction of the old one, the people of tliis country are 
indebted chiefly to Hamilton. Nothing can be more unfortunate in any country 
than the necessity, or the rashness, which sweeps away an established constitution 
before a substitute has been devised. True liberty has gained little, in any age or 
country, from revolutions which have excluded the possibility of seeking or obtain¬ 
ing the assent of existing power to the reforms which the progress of society has 
demanded. 


INAUGURATION DAY. 


5 


Ill the days when the Confederation was tottering to its fall; when its revenues 
had been long exhausted, and when its Congress embraced, in actual attendance, less 
than thirty delegates from only eleven of the States, it would have been the easy part of 
a demagogue to overthrow it by a sudden appeal to the passions and interests of the 
hour as the lirst step to a radical change. But the great man, whose mature and 
energetic youth, trained in the school of Washington, had been devoted to the for¬ 
mation and establishment of the Union, knew too well that if its golden cord were 
once broken no human agency could restore it to life. He knew the value of habit, 
the respect for an established, however enfeebled, authority; and while he felt and 
insisted on the necessity for a new constitution, and did all in his power to make the 
country perceive the defects of the old one, he wisely and honestly admitted that 
the assent of Congress must be gained to any movement which proposed to remedy 
the evil. 

Accordingly, when the convention had agreed on the form of the 
proposed constitution, they reported it to the Congress of the Confed¬ 
eration, and shortly before their adjournment adopted a resolution, on 
September 17, 1787, which left the old Congress in full control of the 
situation and of starting the wheels of the new government. 

Resolved, That it is the opinion of this convention that as soon as the conventions 
of nine States have ratified this Constitution, the United States in Congress shall fix 
a day on which electors shall be appointed by the States which shall have ratified 
the same, and a day on which the electors shall assemble to vote for President, and 
the time and place for commencing the proceedings under this Constitution; that 
after such publication the electors should l)e appointed and the Senators and Kepre- 
sentatives elected; that the electors should meet on the day fixed for the election of 
the President, and should transmit their votes certified, signed, sealed, and directed, 
as the Constitution requires, to the Secretary of the United States in Congress assem¬ 
bled; that the Senators and Representatives shall convene at the time and place 
assigned; that the Senate should appoint a president for the sole purpose of receiv¬ 
ing, Oldening, and counting the votes for President, and that after he shall be chosen 
the Congress, together with the President, should, without delay, proceed to execute 
the Constitution. (Madison Papers, 541, and Journal of Congress, vol. 12, pp. 163, 
164, and vol. 4, p. 781, of the reprint.) 

Thus the couveution left to the old Congress of thirteen States to 
start the new government of nine, to fix election da 3 ^s and the time 
and place for beginning the new government. The votes were to be 
sent to the secretary of the Confederation, there being no President of 
the Senate, and this last officer was to be elected pro tempore to count 
the yotes and thus install a Vice-President. 

An ofhcial letter to Congress was prepared to accompan}" the Con¬ 
stitution, which was signed on the Idth day of September, 1787. The 
results of the proceedings, which till then had been absolutely secret, 
were published on September 19. The Congress of the Confederation 
then passed an ordinance recommending the calling of conventions in 
the several States to consider the ratification of the new Constitution, 
and these were called. But, as is Avell known, the ratitication of the 
Constitution hy nine States was long delayed. Three, Delaware, 
Pennsylvania, and New flersey, ratified in December, 1787; Georgia 
and Connecticut in January, 1788; Massachusetts in February; Mary¬ 
land, April 28; South Carolina, May^ 28, and New Hampshire, the 
ninth State, on June 21, 1788. The news of the ratitication by these 
nine States was then communicated to the Congress of the Confedera¬ 
tion in a long and careful letter signed by George Washington. 

It was thus by^ a sort of common consent (though not by the terms 
of the Constitution itself) submitted to the Congress of the Confedera¬ 
tion to determine when and where the new government should go into 
effect. It may be that the assent of the Congress of the Confedera¬ 
tion was not necessary, but it was desired. The new Constitution 


6 


INAUGURATION DAY. 


had been so carefully drawn as that in every respect it strengthened 
rather than repealed the provisions of the Articles of Confederation, 
including all these provisions and man}^ more. It was a ‘‘more per¬ 
fect union ” as between the States which adopted it. It might 
be argued that this more perfect union between some of the States 
was not inconsistent with the imperfect union which already existed 
with the others, and that if any State should not sign the Constitution 
it would still be in the Confederation with those that had so signed. 

In requiring the assent of nine States as a prerequisite to the exist¬ 
ence of the Constitution, as well as in asking the assent of the Con 
gress of the Confederation, the convention followed with the provision 
of the Articles of Confederation that “no two or more States should 
enter into any treaty, confederation, or alliance whatever between 
them without the consent of the United States in Congress assembled, 
specifying accuratel}^ the purpose for which the same is to be entered 
into and how long it shall continue” (Article VI, paragraph 2), while 
by those same articles questions of war and peace, treaties and alli¬ 
ances, coining money, raising expenses, borrowing or appropriating 
money, settling the size of the Navy or of the Arm}^ or appointing a 
commander in chief thereof, were not to be considered unless nine 
States should assent to the same (Article IX, next to last paragraph). 
The new Constitution was very largely directed to these vital questions 
and required the same ratification by nine States. 

It looks as if the new Constitution was to be so established under 
the old Articles of Confederation as to allow both to exist together if 
only part of the States should finall}^ ratif\^ the more perfect union. 

We have no report of the proceedings and debates of the Cong’ress 
of the Confederation at that time, but in the resolutions which were 
proposed and adopted this question as to what should be the status 
between the States who should come in under the Constitution and 
those who should stay out was wisel}^ left in the background. It is 
apparent, however, that there was much discussion and dissension as to 
the place where the first meeting of the new Congress should take place 
and which would be the new seat of government. In the various reso¬ 
lutions introduced between June and September there is also some 
difference as to when the election shall be held, but they all mention an 
early da}" in March, 1789, as the time for commencing proceedings 
under the new Constitution. It is eas}^ to see why this was so. Nine 
States had joined by June 21,1788, but the great State of Virginia did 
not ratify the Constitution till June 26, nor did New York till July 26. 
North Carolina and Rhode Island refused to go into the new Union at 
all and did not finally join until November 21, 1789, and Ma}" 29,1790, 
respectively. 

Thus in the summer of 1788, and even in September of that 3 'ear, 
when eleven States had ratified, it still seemed expedient to leave time 
for the other States to debate the matter and to come in. Legisla¬ 
tures would meet in the winter, and action of the legislatures of 
various States was requisite not only to elect Senators, but also to 
appoint election days for members of Congress, while in the absence 
of railroads and telegraphs, communication with the more distant 
States was slow and difficult from the city of New York. Therefore 
it was essential to make the day so late that elections could be held, 
but it seemed equally essential that the adoption and the actual work¬ 
ing of the Constitution should not be delayed until the December of 


INAUGURATION DAY. 


7 


the following year, and accordingly on September 13, 1788, a resolu¬ 
tion of Congress was passed, as follows: 

AVhereas the convention assembled in Philadelphia, pursuant to the resolution of 
Congress of the 21st of February, 1787, did, on the 17th day of September of the same 
year, report to the United States in Congress assembled a Constitution for the people 
of the United States; whereupon Congress, on the 28th of the same September, did 
resolve unanimously “that the said report, with the resolutions and letter accom¬ 
panying the same be transmitted to the several legislatures, in order to be submitted 
to a convention of delegates, chosen in each State by the people thereof, in conform¬ 
ity to the resolves of the convention made and provided in that case.” And whereas 
the Constitution so reported by the convention and by Congress transmitted to the 
several legislatures has been ratified in the manner therein described to be sufficient 
for the establishment of the same and such ratifications, duly authenticated, have 
been received by Congress and are filed in the office of the secretary; therefore. 

Resolved, That the first Wednesday in January next be the day for appointing 
electors in the several States, which, before the said day, shall have ratified the said 
Constitution; that the first Wednesday in February next be the day for the electors 
to assemble in their respective States and vote for a President, and that the first 
W^ednesday in March next be the time and the present seat of Congress the place for 
commencing the proceedings under the said Constitution. (Journal of Continental 
Congress, Yol. IV, page 867.) 

Thus the time in which the Constitution should go into effect was 
fixed by a body which was not mentioned in that Constitution. The 
Congress of the old Confederation, which thus gave their assent to 
the institution of this new Government within the boundaries of the 
old, ratified a new Government, which was to take effect b}’^ its own 
vigor, proprio vigore, but nevertheless by the assent of the old. 
There is no statement in this resolution that the old Government 
shall cease to exist, but there runs through all the proceedings the 
recognition that, with the institution of the new, the old one would 
fade away. But it is a strange proof of the real sense of the union 
of the whole nation that the old Government, without authority there¬ 
for in its articles of confederation, should fix the da}^ for appointing 
electors, and the day for them to assemble in their respective States 
and vote for a President, and the day for commencing proceedings 
under a new Constitution. 

Oddly enough, nothing is said, even in this resolution, as to the 
assembling of Congress on the 4th of March. The resolution simply 
says that it is the time for commencing proceedings under the new 
Constitution. By that Constitution there was to be no meeting of Con¬ 
gress until the first Monda}^ in December. At the same time it was 
manifest, and had been recognized in the resolution of the Constitu¬ 
tional Convention, that there could be no President till the votes were 
counted in the presence of Congress, so that if proceedings were to 
commence at all they must commence by the assembling of the new 
Congress for that purpose. 

Accordingly a Congress did assemble in New York, nominally on 
the 4th of March, 1780. On March 4 but 8 of the 22 Senators appeared. 
Adjournments were had from day to day until the 11th, when an 
urgent call was sent out. Adjournments were again made from day 
to day until the 18th, when another call was sent out. The Senate 
then adjourned again from day to day until April 6, when, a quorum 
having appeared, the vote was counted, and George Washington and 
John Adams were declared elected President and Vice-President, and 
committees were sent to look them up at their homes, where they had 
^ remained. The building that was in use was that of the city of New 
York, and the city was thanked for the accommodations furnished. 


8 


INAUGURATION DAY. 


On April 18 the Vice-President appeared and took the chair, and 
adjournments continued from da}^ to day until the 25th, when the 
Houses learned that the President had received notice of his election 
and had agreed to attend at ari}^ time that the Houses would appoint. 
It was understood that preparations could not be made before Phurs- 
da}^, April 30, and it was ordered that the President should then be 
received by both Houses in the Senate Chamber. He landed in the 
city of New York, having been conducted over the Hudson in a barge, 
and was received with acclamation.” On the 30th of April the min¬ 
utes tell us that he was dulv received by the Vice-President, conducted 
to the chair, and given the oath of office, and that the crier made 
proclamation, "H^ong live George Washington, President of the 
United States.” Thus the new Government had begun on the 4th of 
March, but it had no President until the 30th of April. The counting 
of the vote was not, as it is now, by a previous Congress, but by the 
one that was elected to take office, and which thereupon met for the 
purpose of counting the votes and placing the President in office. 

It is probable that the fathers of the Constitution supposed that this 
procedure would be continued to this day. d'hey had no dream that 
the old Congi’ess would sit between election day and the time when the 
new Congress would have the right to take office, and expected the 
new President to be sworn in in the presence of a Congress that had 
been elected with himself, precisely as the mayor of a city is sworn in 
in the presence of the board of aldermen who have been chosen at 
the same election. Possibly this would have continued to be the 
course of practice if it had been possible to hold elections in time for 
a meeting of the first Congress on the first Monda^^of December, 1788, 
instead of the 4th of March, 1789. 

( It has elsewhere been noted how loath the Senators were to leave 
their farms before the seed was in the ground. The Senators from 
New Jersey% just across the river, were as late as aii}^ others. They 
probably heard how many Senators were already in New York and 
knew that they could wait until a quorum was likely to be assembled. 
But the question of the day of meeting immediately troubled the Con¬ 
gress. On September 29, after a long session in the city of New York, 
it was resolved that the next meeting should be on the first Monday in 
January, 1790. That Congress of 1790 sat till July 16, when they 
ordered the records sent to Washington for the first Monday in Decem¬ 
ber, 1790. Congress then sat till March 2, 1791, being the first short 
session, and passed a resolution that after the 3d of March the first 
annual meeting of Congress should be on the first Monday of October 
then next. That Congress ordered that its second session should be on 
the 5th day of November, 1792, and afterwards we find the meetings 
of Congress on December 2, 1793, November 3, 1794, December, 
1795 and 1796; May 15, 1797, November 13, 1797; 3d of December, 
1798, etc. 

Thus the fathers of the Constitution had intended that sessions 
should be held at the date when Congressmen took office, but the 
change from December to Vlarch with the crops and Washington 
weather were too much for good intentions. The first Wednesday of 
March, 1789, happened to be on the 4th, and as the Congress holds for 
two 3 ^ears and the President for four years, the 4th of March has become 
a fixed day without reference to the da}" of the week, although in 


m AUGUR ATIOI^ DAY. 


9 


almost all the States governors are elected for a term of 3 "ears, but 
take office a certain week day of a particular month. But Washing¬ 
ton held the lirst Presidenc\^ only from April 30, or for a little over 
three 5 ^ears and ten months, and not four 3 ^ears. 

Let us remark that the difficulties under which we labor were not 
the intention of the framers of the Constitution, but came from mat¬ 
ters beyond their control. The deW in the ratification of the Consti¬ 
tution pushed ov^er the beginning of our Government from December 
till March, and everything else nierel 3 ’' followed. 

If those are right who desire the abolition of the short session, then 
perhaps at whatever personal inconvenience Congress should hold its 
hrst session on the ith of March until some amendment to the Con¬ 
stitution shall have made a more convenient dav. 

It is hard to make changes, and certainly it is too much to expect of 
anv officer such self-abnegation as to consent to the shortening of his 
own term, but deeming it of the highest importance that the term of 
Congress and the Presidential term should begin shortl 3 ^ after elec¬ 
tion, it is not, perhaps, too much to expect that a constitutional 
amendment might be passed shortening the next Presidential term so 
as to end on January 1 or 2, and making the Congressional term begin 
in December. Even if political interests do not require such a change, 
business interests do. The long period of uncertaint 3 ^ between the 
election and the meeting of each new Congress is a menace to pros- 

E erit 3 \ The injuiy to the countrv done bv such a period of waiting 
as necessitated two extra sessions within ten vears, one to repeal the 
Sherman law and the other to enact the Dingle 3 ^ tariff. 

These are onh^ examples of the effect of that dela 3 \ 

The whole country is indebted to the agitation for a change of the 
inauguration to April 30 for bringing this question to public attention. 
It is after all of very little consequence when the great public cere¬ 
monies of the inauguration shall be held. In other countries a coro¬ 
nation day is held long after the King has taken the throne. No doubt 
this would not suit the practical, patriotic American, who looks be 3 ^ond 
the mere pageant to the yital fact that a new President is taking his 
seat, to the declarations of his policies and principles contained in his 
inaugural, and to the declaration of allegiance which citizens of all 
parties make on that da 3 ^ to their elected chief. The question of the 
weather on inauguration da 3 ’^ is grave, coifsidering the vast crowds 
that are present here; but this question of weather is of little impor¬ 
tance compared with the necessify of setting the wheels of the new 
Government going early and at such time of the 3 "ear that stead 3 ^, 
useful work ma 3 ^ be done. 

It takes at least a month to organize a Congress and for the com¬ 
mittees to be ready with their work. If the 3 " meet in December the 3 ’^ 
could get to work earl 3 ’ in January, and can sit with comfort until 
June. But many considerations urge that we should no longer see 
the spectacle of the short session, with a Congress rushing through 
half considered measures so as to be done by the 4th of March, and 
so often tilled with members whose political career is oyer, and the 
more reckless in their actions because they feel no responsibility to 
the future. 

In the Fiftieth Congress (House resolution No. 120) it was proposed 
to begin the Congressional term for Representatiyes on fJanuary 1 and 


10 


INAUGURATION DAY. 


to inaugurate a President on April 30. In a well-eonsidered report 
(House report No. 811) Mr. Crain remarks as follows: 

The primary object sought to be accomplished by the ratification of this amend¬ 
ment is to change the time fixed for the commencement and termination of the offi¬ 
cial term of members of the House of Representatives. The necessity for such change 
is obvious from a consideration of the evils which flow from our present system of 
representation. 

The House chosen in November does not begin its work for thirteen months after 
its election, although its members draw their salaries from the 4th of March next 
succeeding. For nine months there is no Speaker of the House; before its members 
have served their full term their successors are chosen; the certain determination of 
the second session at 12, meridian, on the 4th of March often prevents the passage 
of important measures, either from lack of time, as in the case of the deficiency bill 
at the second session of the Forty-ninth Congress, or because the President has not 
had an opportunity to examine them, as happened with the river and harbor bill at 
the close of the same session. The efficiency of Representatives during the short 
session is sometimes impaired because they have failed of reelection; Representatives 
are chosen upon issues which may have been settled when they came to the Capitol 
to enter actively upon the performance of their duties; the people in many instances 
are not represented by the men whom they have to represent them, but defeated can¬ 
didates hold over, and the month of December in the first session is practically wasted 
by the House on account of the holiday adjournments. 

Should the proposed amendment be adopted, the members of the House elected 
in November would have about sixty days in which to receive their certificates of 
election, to prepare for contests, to arrange their private affairs in contemplation of a 
protracted absence from home, and to reach the capital. There would be no holiday 
adjournments; the House would only be about eight days without a Speaker, instead 
of nine months, as under the present system; the theory of the founders of the Con¬ 
stitution, that the Representatives should come “ fresh from the people,’’ would be 
carried out, and they would be engaged in the settlement of the issues upon which 
they were chosen within sixty days after their election. 

The House chosen at the Presidential election would assist in the counting of the 
Presidential vote and elect the President in case the election should devolve upon 
the House; there Avould be two long sessions without any fixed time for adjourn¬ 
ment, except such as might be agreed upon by both Houses, and there would, con¬ 
sequently, be no failure of important bills for want of time. There would be no 
election "between the sessions, and therefore each member would be as efficient dur¬ 
ing the second session as he was during the first. Representatives would not be 
placed in the dilemma of choosing between a temporary abandonment of their post 
of duty and the alternative of defeat at home; and they would have an opportunity, 
between the sessions, to visit their constituents and t(j discuss pending measures with 
them. The first session would not be a game of chess between the two parties with 
the fall elections as the wager, and there would be no iiecessity for extra sessions. 

There are difficulties that were not foreseen by our fathers. They 
expected that the electoral vote would be counted by the new Senate 
in the presence of the new House, as a mere matter of form, on a 
single day. It may well be argued that the}^ thought this was to be 
only a ministerial act, and would have been shocked at the idea of a 
long count in the presence of the two Houses, acting’ as a court under 
the advice of an electoral commission. Possilily wise statesmanship 
would require that time should be allowed for the count, and that the 
President's inauguration should be a month after the meeting of Con¬ 
gress and the canvass of the vote. 

In these days of railroads and telegraphs the electoral vote could be 
cast and sent in from the most remote section of the United States 
within two weeks of election, and another two weeks should be enough 
for counting. 

What will be done is a question. There is no great governmental 
problem without its difficulties. But the time is ripe for giving this 
question at least a full, fair, and careful consideration and discussion. 

Mr. Crain’s report, alread}^ recited, recommends that the term of 
Representatives begin on December 31 every two years, and the term of 


I 

INAUGURATION DAY. 11 

the President on the 30th of the next April of every four years. Thus 
the session of Congress would involve the change of Senatory on 
March 4 and of the President April 30. Consistent and harmonious 
action would hardly be promoted by this plan. 

Another plan suggested by this report is that there be March ses¬ 
sions every 3 "ear. The objection is that there is time between election 
and March to tempt the meeting of the old Congress and that there is 
not enough seasonable weather after March for a meeting of the new. 

It thus appears that a practical arrangement of the whole question 
is not an easy one. It is complicated by the seasons so as to have 
proper times for the campaign, election, inauguration, and meetings of 
the State legislatures who elect Senators. 

There should not be too much of a period for uncertaintv as to the 
policy of the new Congress and for legislation by the old Congress 
between the election and the installation of the new Government; that 
is to say, the electoral college should meet promptly after election 
or “appointment of electors;” the new Government should meet 
shortly thereafter and count the vote, and the new President should 
be thereupon inaugurated shortly after the meeting of Congress. 

This was the intention of the Constitution. It sa^^s that the Presi¬ 
dent shall hold office for four years. It did not say that the office shall 
begin with the first day of Congress. The term of George Washing¬ 
ton began on the 30th day of April, when he was sworn in, and if the 
strict words of the Constitution had been followed it seems as if the 
inauguration da}^ for the President would now come on the 30th da^" 
of April, as proposed by the Senate and House resolutions. 

As to the time to be allowed, our forefathers thought that the 
“election or appointment of electors” should be on the first Wednes¬ 
day of Januaiy, the choosing of a President on the first Wednesday of 
February, and the meeting of Congress on the first Wednesday of 
March. With the present means of communication, the intervals of a 
month then allowed could be reduced readily to two or three weeks, 
though a month might be safer. 

The experience of a hundred years has proved that the 4th of 
March to begin a new Administration is a failure. The severity of 
fhe winter weather prevents election then, and the heat of the spring 
tn Washington prevents a session of Congress. 

On the whole, the best arrangement, in my opinion, would be to let 
the new Congress and the inauguration follow successively, but 
promptl}", after the fall elections. If the election were on the first Tues¬ 
day of November the electors might meet on the third Tuesday and 
Congress during the first week of December, and the new President 
could be installed in the first week of Januaiy. There is something 
to be said in favor of making all these dates one month earlier. Such 
an arrangement is entirely satisfactoiy, except as to Senators. If 
their terms of office change in the fall they would have to be chosen 
hy legislatures elected in the previous fall. There is, however, no 
constitutional objection to the change of their term in March, as at 
present, although such a change of Senators in the middle of the ses¬ 
sion would be highlv inconvenient. 

Considering the difficulty, howeyer, of altering the custom of a 
November election and of a December meeting of Congress, the 
question of the weather on the 1st of Januaiy should be regarded 


12 


INAUGUEATION DAY. 


as of trivial importance. Believing that for the reasons already stated 
the good of the coantry requires that the Senatorial and Congressional 
terms should expire and the new Government be installed in toto shortl}' 
after election, I therefore recommend that the resolution be so 
amended as that the term of Congress should begin on the 1st daV 
December and that the President should be sworn in on the 2d day of 
January. This will leave ample time for the meeting of the electoral 
college after the fall elections and the count of the vote, sa}*, on the 
15th of December. 

These are the dates which seemingly were contemplated by the Con¬ 
stitution itself when it ordered Congress to meet in December. No 
other plan will avoid the evils which lie at the root of the matter. 

It is true that there is some difference of opinion on this subject, 
and that by some the present delays are thought to tend to conserva¬ 
tism in government, and the present session of the old Congress is 
defended. 1 do not agree with their view. But we ma}^ admit that if 
they are right, then the session should be long enough to do business 
without undue haste, and that if the present s 3 "stem is to continue, 
inauguration day and the beginning of the new Congressional term 
might properly be postponed till April 30, in order to give time for 
the session of the old Congress and decent weather for the inaugura¬ 
tion of the Chief Magistrate of the greatest nation in the world. 


R. Wayxe Parker. 


0 


/ 





























